Something ain’t right & Moi, my hero

It is not really a secret… something ain’t right on this island. The absurd is so common that is often on the local newspaper, and the news pass by kind of unnoticed, or noticed, talked about for a while and then forgotten…
I though for a while why this happens here in particular, and the idea is that this place is so small and remote, that if somebody does something wrong, well, he should be either forgiven or killed or go off-island.

We have stories of all types, of which these particular ones I discussed and learned about on a dinner table with some friends last weekend:

ALCOHOL: When I came here, a couple of guards from the airport, the ones that make sure that none steals from the duty free, stole a very big quantity of liquor. They got catch, and lay off the job. They said they were sorry, but it was not their fault, the temptation was too big. They now work for the police.

MARIJUANA: smoking marijuana it is just not worth it here. If they find you with a join, you get 5 years of prison. Also, when I got here… The police found a very big marijuana plantation. Trouble. What to do with all that grass? Well, remember when in Kenya their burned all those illegal elephant tasks in the main square as a lesson against contrabands? Well, that sounded like a good idea. Tons of marijuana were burned in the main square in front of the police station (where we sing for the governor in Christmas), in front of the Fono (the local government). I did not know about the event, so after work I drove home… I remember commenting with paul about that strong skunk smell that day. Next day on the newspaper there was an article first page, with a picture of 3 big samoan policemen standing, arm crossed behind a smoking barrel… there was a relax big smile, quite a giggle, on all of their faces. The article was singing what a good act it was. I honestly cannot believe I missed it.

SHIT: A certain doctor was taking stood (shit) samples home and analyze them there (a part the fact that, who would ever want a house full of other people shit, how did he analyze them? Smell it, say, “uhm, yeah right, it smell like shit. Next”). He was charged of felony, he lost his medical sample and he was also made the director of public health! (ministero della salute).

NAME: well, this is about the Lt. Governor. There was a joke around for a while, than every time somebody would see a big plane outside the Thursday-Sunday night flight, it was the FBI that came back to arrest him. He has at least on felony was trafficking with school children furniture… but he is running for Lt. Governor again this election. And not only. He changed his name for the first time, since he already got in trouble with the first and then again with the third name. Rumors says also that he stole his 3^rd name (it is a samoan thing, the name are related to certain titles… stealing a name is like stealing a title)

“BUT I WILL PAY BACK”: this is what usually people say when they get caught… even if it is about $400.000 already spent! Three government employees are under federal invistigation now for making all this money disappearing. A fourth one instead in under investigation for using number for ID that were already taken. They way the found out is because of a couple comlaining that the ID were not being made on the office, but “later on” at the employ house. They thought they were going to get a deal, but went this did not happen, and they had troubles entering in Samoa with their ID, they complained.
The other 3 persons have a different case. They just did not turn the receipts for the ID to the department of treasury, which keep on asking… but samoan times can be long, as, oh well, we will eventually get them. The funny thing (to me) is that the 3 kept all the receipts, even if they used the money for their own use! If I were there, I may have burned any proof, and through everything into a state of perpetual confusion, that work well here. This part I will just copy:

“When questioned about this, Fuavai-Burgess - whose duty also included collecting money for the CIs - denied depositing any money. She told investigators that she was "uncomfortable" with answering their questions at the office, so arrangements were made for them to discuss the matter later that day.

The government's case states that one of the investigators got a call from Fuavai-Burgess' father, former police commissioner Te'o Fuavai, who was upset that his daughter was being questioned. According to the criminal complaint, Te'o (the father) told the investigators that he will contact Attorney General Fepulea'i Afa Ripley, Jr., to lodge a complaint regarding the investigation.Investigators said when they arrived at the AG's Office to talk with Fuavai-Burgess, Fepulea'i (the Attonery general) had sent her home.”

I suggest to read the all story at: http://samoanews.com/thursday.08282008/story16.html

Moral of the story? This is today’s news:
“Moi Masaniai, the assistant attorney general who was behind the move to file criminal charges against four employees of the Attorney General's Office last week, was given a notice of termination yesterday afternoon, government sources said.”

(http://samoanews.com/thursday.09042008/story16.html)

Something ain’t right.

Moi is my hero. He is a big sweet guy. I did not see or went out with him a lot, but I have a profound love and respect toward him as he brought justice in a case I was very emotionally involved last year. He is really my hero here on island, and I cannot believe he is being fired for doing a great job for the people of American Samoa. He is a good lawyer. Very good. How could have I done without him??

Just a few paddles away...

...just a few paddles away.......there is an unspoiled beach...

Knowing that this island is like a moving boat on the ocean floor is very fascinating (to me and a few more), but I bet you are more interested in island life…

Friday was the 29^th of the month, which means GNOCCHI. This time I was inspired to cook something different and, with the help of my fairies, I add two Italian style lasagnas (with fresh egg-pasta, fresh béchamel, ragu’ and very little cheese) and a nice polenta on a bed of spinach topped with spicy tomato sauce with pine nuts… and chocolate salami for dessert, just like my grandma used to do! yummy!
About 20 people showed up and we manage to have enough people to feed everybody. There was a guy sitting next to me, he was so silent and absorbed and I asked him if everything was all right. He replied: “this is just so good, I never ate anything like this…” Soon after he refilled his dish. He really made my day. I love cooking, but what I really love it is to see people enjoying my food. I guess I am just not used to live without anybody to feed, but at least, once a month, with gnocchi night, I can finally satisfy my needs. Marsik took a lot of pics, my camera is still down… as soon as I get them, I will post some (it may be never…)…

Saturday I had a deserved lazy morning sleeping (and cleaning), and in the afternoon I had a nice kayaking break.
Although I paddled a lot since I moved here, I never tried kayaking, which proved to be great only for the fact that it is so easy to load the kayaks on your car and launch from anywhere.Liz and I went to Afono village, a remote village on the north coast of the island pass Pago Pago.

As we paddling farther away from the coast, the sea became rougher and rougher, and it also got very windy. It is easy to fell how small and lost in the middle of the ocean this island is (just try to buy a plane ticket to leave this place!!!), but when you are out in the open ocean with big waves by yourself sitting on a tiny plastic kayak, you fell even more insignificant.
It is inspiring how easy it is to move away from village life (which residents would consider quite advanced, and which visitors would consider quite adventurous), to a total untouched wild nature. Just a few paddles away.

Being out in the sea was great, I looked around in the hope of spotting a whale or two; we took some pictures, and I had another realization: “F*!k! I forgot it again, I get seasick!”. It is amazing how seasick I get all the time, and how, regularly, I forget about it.
Every time I have an opportunity to get out in the sea I always jump on head first, to then remember how sea sick I usually get. A clear example of human selective memory: forget the bad staff, remember the good one.
But the view of pristine watersheds with their isolated white sand beaches fingered with palms is just priceless, and I feel glad I live in a place where heaven is just a few paddles away. It was even be better if you had Adam with you (which make me think of this: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=rU30H0rkymY ), but… oh well, can’t have it all from life, can you?

Paddling and being seasick made me think of a day in Thailand with Paul. We had the bright idea to paddle to an island we could see from the beach.

Before I continue with this story, let me point out that you can see Corsica and sometimes even Sardinia from the coast in Tuscany when it is clear and that does not mean it is near. But magically, when you are in holiday, suddenly everything must be good and must be reachable. So we start paddling, paddling… and paddling and paddling… after few hours (not 1 or 2, but more like 3 or 4) we finally landed on the island. I touched the ground Robinson Crusoe’s style, and felt asleep few meters away beneath a palm. I do not know what Paul did, probably explored around until he came to wake me up… time to paddle back… to food, water…Again, we paddle, and paddle and paddle. The sea grow bigger and bigger, and a fog was obscuring any sight of land. In the same time I also realized how many sharks there were in these waters. I remind the reader that I am from Rome. I don’t remember last time I was so sick and pissed in my life. And all I could do was to keep on paddling.

Paddling in Afono yesterday was definitely much more fun. I believe women in general have a much higher survival instinct. As soon as I started feeling seasick, Liz decided to land in once of those beautiful beaches we just passed, to practice our primordial gathering skills instead.

The beach we landed was about 30 meters long so, half of it protected by a high vertical cliff, and with a little tropical forest on the other side. We found a hole in the bush, and with it a path that penetrated the forest. I love this kind of exploring, particularly when it happens that, unexpectedly, you end up in an amazing long beach, just as we did…

I though Larson Cove was my favorite beach on island, but this beach is much better!

We collected few shells, explored some more, and followed an eel for a bit.

As we were paddling back to the village, 5 kids stranded on a rock regularly hit by the waves caught my attention. They were about 6-8 years old, far away from the village, weaving at us.
“How did they ever got there?????” I guessed they must have walked on the reef at low tide (during high tide the waves and the currents are too strong to walk there), as the cliffs that separated the rock from the village were way too vertical and high to be passed.
I asked if they needed help, but they were laughing and playing. As Liz noted, they did look like characters animated from “The lord of the flies” book. Could they eat me if I got too close?
Now this may not sound nice, but they were not interested in our help, so we just left them there (stranded?). I kept looking at the cliffs and the wood above it… no way there is a path there… and how would they get down there? Are they Spiderman’s sons?
Next low tide won’t happen until midnight… Were they bad kids sent on the rock as punishment by the parents? Being a young kid on a small island must really be hard…

With some guilty feelings, I surfed a couple of waves as I passed the reef, and them carrying me back to the Afono's beach...

The ring of fire

Keeping the topic of the last entry... (by the way, i confirm, we are moving 7-8 cm/year)...

I did not know that Johnny Cash wrote a song for me... how romantic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2iv_E-Fn9E&feature=related

"The ring of fire"

Love is a burning thing

and it makes a firery ring

bound by wild desire

I fell in to a ring of fire...

I fell in to a burning ring of fire

I went down,down,down

and the flames went higher.

And it burns,burns,burns

the ring of firethe ring of fire.

The taste of love is sweet

when hearts like our's meet

I fell for you like a child

oh, but the fire went wild..

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of firethe ring of fire.

How fast was I going, Officer?

This week I had a bad GPS week. It does sound like some kind of disease, but don’t worry it is not infectious and does not necessarily hit with any woman between 20 and 30. But, as the GIS specialist, I need to make sure these interesting instruments do work… and mine just refused to engage in any kind of communication with any of 31 satellites that currently orbit around our planet. When I finally got a location, my GPS told me as I was standing, JC style, in the middle of the harbor…

This can be very frustrating but, like another different syndrome what hits women between 20 and 30 (more or less), the problem can be sweetened with a little brownie (like Mary Poppins says “with a little bit of sugar everything goes down” –liberal translation from Italian--)

Inevitably, I miserably ended up sitting on the side of the street, holding the GPS in one hand and the brownie in the other, looking out to the very blue water (it is so beautiful on a sunny day) where you are suppose to be standing.

And I though, I though… about communication ports, satellites in the space, maps… I reached the following conclusions: “satellite number 7 is standing right on top of my head right now, if I could see it…”. “last time I went to the beach at night we were looking at moving satellite as if they were shooting stars…”and finally the revelation that could put an end to my bad GPS week “I must have the wrong projection as a base map!”

But the brownie was not finished yet; I put the GPS down and just enjoy the wonderful view, those many shades of blue (it is always all blue, like in the song!!).

But my mind is still in the geographic mode, and the realization of the week: did you know that, right now, as you are reading this post, even if you are sitting still, you are actually moving and going somewhere?

To the question “where is life taking you?” you can now answer “apparently, I am going north-west, dangerously moving along the Tongan trench, which just me an earthquake once in a while (about 9-13 felt earthquakes a year)”. There you go, not only you know where you are going now, you can also add some spice and danger to it.
If you are in Hawaii, you are actually moving 9cm/year! How fast was I going, officer?? That is right, 9 centimeters a year! This sounds like a lot of involuntary unconscious movement to me!

(anyway, here a reference: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/description_plate_tectonics.html

I do not want people to think I am crazy like when I said that in Italy we have water buffalo and that they produce the BEST mozzarella ever)

Did you know that by moving in American Samoa, you moved “into a burning ring of fire”? Not to mention that you are sitting on a hot spot…

Did you know that only 3% of the island of Savai’I is above water and this island is 5 million years old, like the big island of Hawai’I (check this out: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080616161631.htm)

Anyway, time for me to go and check on the ragu’ for tomorrow’s gnocchi night… but if you would like to know more about Samoan movement, check out http://www.mantleplumes.org/Samoa.html “The Samoan Chain, a shallow lithospheric fracture system”

What is around us & the Friday' afternoon' Palio

I would say, water, water, water. We are surrounded by water. Well, all continents are and our Peautiful planet is Blue. But when you live is such a small island, this reality becomes painfully obvious sometimes…
Maybe this is why you feel blue rather than green or yellow… you feel blue because it is blue all around you! Blue blue blue! But, thanks god, we have internet here… and this is the best place to just lazily spend a full morning in internet without felling guilty that you could actually being out… backpacking, or skiing… It is a good place to be an artist, write a book, read many many many books, and catch up with the rest of the world, or, to be more precise, discover those meaningful things about the world that you would never pay attention otherwise.
I feel like I have never spent so much time in my life readings other peoples blogs, reading stories from all over the world, googling words like “dush bag”, “Coolio” or “Sam Kinison”.
Not long ago, in my friend’s bathroom, a book caught my attention: “364 things about the world that you do not need to know”. I wondered if the author wrote his book while living on a small island like this one, possibly even here…

Did you know for example that Bidet means “little pony”? If you do not know what a bidet is, well, google it!!! I did not learn this from the book I just mentioned, but this is just a mere example of things I learn while living here…. Also, check out the song “Day trip to Bangor”, at http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=pMNrrLBdhuM (if you are one of my Bangorian friends, you must!)
Did you know that as we were enjoying the Pacific Art Festival, tons of people were gathering in the Kenai inlet in Alaska, spending the weekend dipnetting?
Dipnetting is a particular way of fishing, in which you mainly walk along the shore in VERY cold water trying to catch some migrating salmons with a kind of net (check http://dugsbigwildlife.blogspot.com/2008/07/kenai-dipnetting-part-1.html for more descriptions and pics!). Did you know that we do something similar here in Samoa to catch the palolo? The palolo is a worm from the coral reef that spawn once a year few days after a full moon night… next spawning should be soon… I will tell you about it when it will be time!

And… did you know that a new species has been identified from a fossil (in amber) bought on e-bay for 20 pounds? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7572052.stm)

These are just few examples of interesting things about the world I would probably not be exposed unless I would be living in Neverland.

What is happening on island? Well, yesterday I went to a local version of American Idol. Six participants fought on the stage armed with 2 songs each. The singers were very good, as expected, as Samoans are incredibly talented singers. The winner and runner up will be sent to Western Samoa for another competition, whose winner will be participating to a bigger competition including New Zealand, Fiji, and other Polynesian islands. The final winner will have a contract with a discographic company and a cash prize of about $2000! Exciting!
It was interesting, because the first song they had to sing was a country song (the second one was a song of their choice). So… to return the to the discussion I was made before, did you know that in Samoa they sing country song? I also learned that the right title of a song I liked was “Men, I fell like a woman” and not “Men, feeling like a woman” (I always though it was a song about being fafafine…)

The rest of my week was busy like always with Polynesian dancing, taekwondo, paddling, and I recently also added tennis and golf…

(Lisa on the last hole, as another beautiful sunset paints the island pink and orange)

Golf is a new interesting experience… being in the court is an experience, the view is just breath taking, and the whole game just fun, for $3 you can play 9 holes, barefoot naturally. I do think golf is one of the most ridicules game ever: who ever thought of hitting a very tiny ball with very funny looking clubs, along very long distances, trying to the put the ball in a very tiny hole (ok, I know, I googled it naturally… the Scottish in medioeval day...). It seems to me that in this case, golf is just a good occasion to be together, drink beers and drive tiny electric cars around the court. Even if a couple of people can actually really play, most of the people are beginners like me.

(Lisa and the electric car...)

The game consists of the repetition of 3 main steps.

Step 1: everybody as a shot.

Step 2: teams consisting of a driver and a “collector” will jump in one of the electric car and drive as fast as possible toward the team’s balls, wherever they ended up in the field. The driver job is to drive the car as close as possible to the ball (again, it is a very tiny ball), while the “collector” will be leaning on the side and with an agile swing of the car collect the ball, still full speed.

Step3: all the cars will the be driven toward the ball that was launched the farer; the collector will drop his and the driver’s ball around that ball, and steps 1-2-3 will be repeated again, hole after hole…

I believe this is a great idea to allow everybody to play, despite the skills, without holding the field forever. And the all running with the cars reminds me of a sort of Palio* (see footnote), something like the Palio della Quintana… I think I will refer to golf from now on as the “Friday’s afternoon’s Palio” (well, why not? after all Golf is a medioeval sport, right?) .

*For you knowledge a palio is… “the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a comune against each other. Typically they are fought in costume and commemorate some event or tradition of the Middle Ages, and thus often involve horse racing, archery, jousting, crossbow shooting, and similar medieval sports. Once purely a matter of local rivalries, many have now become events staged with an eye to visitors and foreign tourists. The most famous is undoubtedly the Palio di Siena; but there are hundreds of others throughout Italy and the surrounding countries”.

I had a dream...

Bed time is definitely not my favorite part of the day. I have a room-mate, but our timing is different and I barely see her, so I am mostly alone when home. This is quite a new experience for me, as I always lived surrounded with people. Sure, this gives me plenty of extra time I never had before for reading, painting, writing... but all this is still nicer when you can do it with somebody next to you.
Anyway, today, after Taekowndo and my untouchable daily dose of mozzarella sticks, I felt a bit artistic, and I painted a dream I had not long ago (my camera is being funny...). It is about being on this island and about traveling long distance, about being guided and finding something precious...
Ah!!! And today, as I was driving to work, I saw a whale! W, I did not really saw a whale, it would be more correct to say that I saw the breath of a whale... it is not really the same thing, but it is still very exciting! We are in the time of the year in which the whale pass by the island during their migration. I hope to see many more in the next days.
Two years ago as I was paddling with some friends a bit away from the island, a young whale jumped right next to us. I think it was one of the most exciting day of my life. I never saw a whale so close, and from such a small, breakable and turnable canoe... I felt very small...

Every day is a gift (?)

EPA paddlers team

Sunday night. I am lying on my bed, laptop on my lap, pondering about a lazy weekend that turned out to be very busy indeed.

On Friday I panicked after a break up and I called a S.O.S. woman night. Not to bitch about guys (as many guys may fear would happen), but mainly for psychological support, to have somebody to eat mozzarella sticks and chocolate and drink wine with. So Friday came my first realization (first realization of the weekend, I have realization quite often lately): for how small and isolated this island is, you will never be alone if you ask for help. And, like in fairy tales, at the first tear 4 wonderful fairies appeared with wine and fries made from famous Idaho potato (very popular on the island lately), romantic comedies, hugs and funny stories. You cannot ask for anything more! Thank you girls!!!!!
And like in the fairy tales, little animals appeared around my bed as I was sleeping (maybe sewing a new puletasi for my new life?). Although I was rude and kindly hit the mouse with the umbrella a couple of times because he was being too noisy. No puletasi for me in the morning. And I also had to get the mouse outside next morning. I am surprise how sleeping with a mouse does not bother me at all anymore, “after all”, I think “it is just a cute mouse, it could be a PINK DOG and be much worst!” (Pink dogs are scaring mythological animal that resemble a fur-less dog, with absent eyes and exposed teethes that sometimes appears into the restrooms of bad boys that do not eat their vegetables. Unluckily, in Neverland they are a real problem and a common sight… -Jeremy has a video of it on his blog-).

In the afternoon, I participated to a social outrigger canoe race (a canoe with a float on the side that seat 6 people in a row). I have been paddling intensively a year ago, and I just returned into the water a couple of weeks ago, so this race represented a good welcome back for me. I missed been out in the water, feeling my lungs burning with oxygen (or with the lack of it), the fun, the enthusiasm and the passion of the participants.
I captained the EPA team (for which I usually steer) and also participated in a 1-man race, that was quite fun actually because none of the participant could go straight (we were all inexperienced on the 1-man and the currents and wind were strong enough to make us going zig-zag to the end).
The race lasted all afternoon; there were 250 meters races, 500 meters races, 1000 meters races, 1-man, 6-man… and once the canoes were lifted to the ground, there were pizzas, sandwiches, pasta, beers and Peti’s cakes (that are always amazing and always worth driving back for). So, I ended up spending the evening at the yacht club, catching up with friends I did not see for a while. And I also remembered what I loved so much about paddling, a part the fact that it is probably the only outside sport you can fully enjoy without worrying about mosquitoes. It is the evening at the Yacht Club. The best view ever, a sight that, even after 2 and ½ years on the island, still makes you think that this place is magical. Imagine: the moon is rising on the other side of the harbor, behind the Rain Maker Mountain; it looks like a huge parmigiano cheese, shining of its own light, illuminating few clouds; its reflection glitters in the water in front of you. Grounded on the grass at the edge of the sea, there are some catamarans and some outriggers, also illuminated with the light of the parmigiano-moon. And if you close your eyes, for a moment, you can smell the flowers (that are always blooming), and the coconut oil that the girls put in their hair. Once again, a common though (that cross your mind every time you see something amazing, or when something amazingly stupid happens) knock somewhere into your head, followed by a sight: “I still cannot believe I am here”.

Sunday it was time to catch up with myself. That is writing e-mails, cleaning the house, cook some food for lunch tomorrow (to avoid the scaring pasta-pisupo-mayonese sandwich), do a laundry, have a Skype-tea with some friends… all staff no one ever speaks about, but that are somehow essential to life.
The evening was also great. Liz had a remarkable idea: every 2 or so weeks, somebody will volunteer to cook dinner for everybody, every time food from a different country.
My plan is to prepare some Eritrean food. I have Berbere’ with me here, and I may be getting something more soon from the States. I cook Italian food every day, I am up for a challenge!
Tonight we had Thai food, a complete success. The food was great and the company superb. I sat down on a table with women only, and I have to say I really learned so much!!! Midwives can be a well of wisdom (midwives aiutano una donna a partorire)!

I close with this though, that came from the sensei of the kung fu panda:

“"Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift,
this is why it is called present"

I want to feel asleep holding this though, waking up with a gift… good night you all people from around the world and you lost kids of Neverland!!!